Hiking Audra State Park in West Virginia

A short hiking trip to Audra State Park in West Virginia that I went with my school’s outdoor club.

Middle Fork River

Second weekend of October, I joined my school’s outdoor club for their annual trip to West Virginia. We spent two nights in the woods of West Virginia, that involved on the nicer part, barbeque, music and chats. This post would be about the short hike that we did in Audra State Park during the second day. Weather wasn’t great so we ended up with this rather introductory walk in the park.

On AllTrails, the only trail in the park was a 4.3km loop with not much elevation change. The trail followed Middle Fork River, with a section of it passing under an alcove (that’s officially called a “cave”), before making the return back at higher elevation.

Right off the parking lot, there was a water access by the bridge, where we stopped and snapped a few photos. It’s probably the best photo spot in Audra State Park.

Middle Fork River
Middle Fork River
Middle Fork River
Middle Fork River
Waterfall

Not long after that was the boardwalk section of the trail under the cliff.

Trail under Cliff
This was sort of the only attraction of the park.

Then it’s a typical walk in the woods. While West Virginia was famous for its crimson autumn colors, it hadn’t yet arrived at Audra State Park, we only saw patches of yellow on the trees.

Trail
Trail
Trail
Trail
Trail

Before the trail reached its turnback point, our group’s leader found another water access point off trail. There water wasn’t deep, and we decided to take our snack break there.

Caterpillar
I had no idea how it got into the water.

Middle Fork River
At the water access point.

We had an entire day to kill, so some of us decided to go swimming in the river. It’s too cold for me to get wet, so instead I played with my drone.

Overlooking Middle Fork River

Middle Fork River
Middle Fork River
Middle Fork River
Middle Fork River
Middle Fork River
Middle Fork River
Middle Fork River

Finally, we continued on and followed the other half of the trail back, with sights of some interesting creatures along the trail.

Giant Mushroom
I didn’t use to see mushrooms in such vibrant orange color.

Frog
Frog
Frog
Frog

Finally, after arriving at the trailhead parking lot, there was still time left in the day. So we decided to check out the other water access point, and spent some time chatting around.
That meant in the meantime, I could have another go at my drone.